Cincinnati, Dayton, La Salle Seeking New Coaches
Add Cincinnati and two Atlantic-10 Conference schools to the list of programs looking for new head coaches this offseason. Dayton coach Tony Vittorio stepped down following Saturday’s season finale after 18 years in charge of the Flyers, La Salle announced Tuesday that it fired coach Mike Lake, and Ty Neal resigned after four years in charge of the Bearcats.
Vittorio was hired by Dayton in the fall of 1999 and compiled a 463-544-1 record in 18 seasons, making him the winningest coach in program history. He led the Flyers to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2012.
Dayton went 20-35 this season and finished 10th in the A-10 at 9-15.
Vittorio in a statement expressed appreciation for the support he received during his tenure.
“Through the years, my assistant coaches and baseball staff, along with several players and myself, took great pride in building a competitive program that became known as a championship program at one time,” he said. “I wish we could have maintained that championship level the last few years.”
Lake spent the last 10 seasons as the head coach of his alma mater and went 192-327-2 in his tenure. Lake was promoted to head coach in June 2007 after four years as an assistant coach.
La Salle went 10-41 this season and finished in last place in the A-10.
Athletic director Bill Bradshaw thanked Lake in a statement.
“We appreciate the work that Mike and his staff have done to help our student-athletes both academically and athletically,” he said.
Neal resigned for personal reasons, Cincinnati said, following a 12-3 loss to Connecticut in its first game in the American Athletic Conference tournament. The former Indiana assistant coach was 91-130-1 in four seasons and coached Cubs first-rounder Ian Happ, among other drafted players.
“We respect Coach Neal’s decision to step down,” director of athletics Mike Bohn said in a statement. “We appreciate what Ty has done to escalate the academic and athletic profiles of the program with an APR score which improved from 948 to 989 and an RPI which improved 147 spots over the past four years. We wish him the best moving forward.”
Ted Tom will serve as interim head coach for Wednesday’s game against Memphis and however long the Bearcats’ postseason runs.
| 2017 COACHING CHANGES | ||
| School | Departures | Arrivals |
| Cincinnati | Ty Neal | |
| Dayton | Tony Vittorio | |
| La Salle | Mike Lake | |
| Massachusetts | Mike Stone | |
| Stanford | Mark Marquess (retiring after season) | |
| Tennessee | Dave Serrano | |
| Towson | Mike Gottlieb | |
| Virginia Tech | Patrick Mason | |
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